Kremlin to use Western division for propaganda purposes
QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – As Turkey tries to please Russia by preventing Finland and Sweden from joining NATO, the Kremlin will use this Western division for “propaganda purposes,” the CNN reported on Sunday.
The CNN said, in a report, that NATO and the Western alliance will be at risk if the two countries are not able to join the alliance; the Kremlin will use it for “propaganda purposes”.
If that happens, even if the Ukrainian-Russian war ends, the narrative of a divided West will continue to be ‘a drum that NATO’s opponents can bang’, the report read.
Finland and Sweden formally applied to join NATO on May 18, 2022, prompted by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February, but were met with Turkish stalling.
In June 2022, NATO announced a trilateral memorandum between Turkey, Sweden and Finland which paved the way for Finland and Sweden’s accession. Turkey had demanded that the two Nordic countries stop supporting the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), the Democratic Union Party (PYD) and the People’s Protection Units (YPG).
However, Turkey has previously said that Sweden must first take a clearer position against the Kurdish groups it considers terrorists.
On January 24, Turkey threatened not to support Sweden’s membership and accused it of failing to meet Turkey’s demands to fight “terrorism.”
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is trying to exclude Sweden and Finland from NATO in order not to upset Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, as Russia has been an economic lifeline for Turkey, according to the report.
The CNN said, citing Gonul Tol of the Middle East Institute’s Turkey program, “without Russian money, Erdogan would not have been able to raise wages or provide financial support to students.”
Turkey “is now promising mass rebuilding, post-earthquake. So Russia is still an attractive partner for Erdogan,” Tol added.
Turkish claims about Sweden and Finland housing terrorists provides a perfect cover for Erdogan not to engage at a politically inconvenient time on the NATO question, according to Tol.
The NATO is adapting an “open-door policy” for any country that intends to join, and Sweden and Finland have more than met the criteria, so not joining makes a “mockery” of NATO, says the report.
Multiple NATO officials and diplomats told CNN that Turkey’s block feeds the Kremlin narrative that “the West and NATO are divided.”